


nobody said it would be this hard

by supaprittiest



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, angst town, im so sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-24
Updated: 2015-04-24
Packaged: 2018-03-25 11:55:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3809476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supaprittiest/pseuds/supaprittiest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>skye and ward move in together hell yeah</p>
            </blockquote>





	nobody said it would be this hard

She picks the succulent off of the window sill next to Grant's bed, where she sits while he idly plays with her hair. Months ago, she would've never expected him to be _that_ guy, but one day he just asked her if he could braid her hair, and he's done it almost every day since.

 

"This is nice," she comments, admiring the little plant. "Where'd you get it?"

 

She feels his fingers stiffen as they brush against the back of her neck.

 

"I got it for Kara when we were still together," he explains carefully, as if he's trying his best to keep her pacified. "I can get rid of it if you want me to."

 

"It's fine," she assures, smiling a little as she set the pot back into its place on the window sill. "It's sweet."

 

He exhales softly against her skin, and she turns around to kiss him.

 

* * *

 

 

They never have time for dates, but when Skye starts to complain about it, he makes time.

 

It's a little restaurant in Los Angeles that Skye is familiar with, but Grant has never been to. They serve breakfast all day and so obviously, they order pancakes.

 

Almost as soon as they start eating, Coulson calls and informs them that they need to return to the Bus, so Ward tells him that they'll be there in twenty, even though it will only take ten at most. They finish their pancakes and Grant leaves a generous tip. Skye stuffs the receipt into the pocket of her jacket and leaves hand in hand with Grant.

 

"Not bad, as far as first dates go," Grant remarks, grinning down at her, and she smiles back up at him.

 

"Normally, I like to wait ‘till at least the second or third date to go home with someone,” she adds playfully. “But I think I’m going to make an exception for you.”

 

* * *

 

 

Months pass, and Grant tells her about an apartment he found that he was planning to use as a safe house, but figured that between getting caught making out in the change room, and the constant stress of being on-call 24/7, they could afford to live off-base, together. Skye was more than happy to agree.

 

Coulson wasn’t overly thrilled about the prospect, obviously, but after May harassed him about it enough, he relented.

 

She wears the same jacket that she wore on their first date, as she hauls boxes into the apartment. It's mostly clothes and weapons since most of their furniture was supplied by SHIELD, but Grant assures her that they’ll make it theirs in no time. He leaves to go pick up lunch for both of them, after dropping her off.

 

A few hours go by, and she reaches into her pocket to fish out her phone. Her fingers ghost over the receipt from their first date. She looks down at it fondly, and tosses it onto the window sill before picking up and moving another box.

 

She remembers her phone and quickly unlocks it, dialling Grant’s number like she's known it her whole life.

 

"Hey, where are you?" she asks when he picks up.

 

"Just getting a few things," he says calmly over the white noise in the background. "I'll be there in an hour or so. You can get started unpacking if you want."

 

"Oh yeah, stick me with the lame job, I see how it is," she complains, looking at the boxes around her. However, she’s actually excited to finally decorate her own apartment after dreaming about it for pretty much her entire childhood.

 

"I'll make it worth your while," he promises, making her stomach turn with anticipation.

 

"You'd better," she threatens, ending the call and stuffing the phone into her pocket.

 

She purposely consumes the entire closet in their bedroom with her own wardrobe. He can find somewhere else for his damn suits when he gets home.

 

She just called this place home, don’t freak out.

 

* * *

 

 

When he gets home, he sets his succulent plant on the window sill, along with a second one, you know, to keep it company.

 

"Babe?" he calls out into the dimly lit apartment. He’s greeted with eerie silence, and he draws the gun from his hip before searching the apartment.

 

As he slowly closes in on the bedroom, he hears the rhythmic sound of Skye’s breathing, and lowers his gun slowly. He rounds the corner and finds her sprawled out on their bed, sleeping soundly.

 

He takes a moment to fully appreciate the scene- her dark hair spread across the pillows that don’t even have sheets on them yet, curled up around herself with a throw blanket covering her up to her waist. He smiles a little, and crawls onto the bed beside her.

 

She wakes up, but just to snuggle closer to him and curl her hands into the back of his shirt, and he feels his heart melt. He wraps his arms around her and closes his eyes as well.

 

“Welcome home, babe,” she whispers, smiling into his chest.

 

* * *

 

 

She’s cleaning the house one day (Ward’s away on a mission without her, and she wants him to come home to a clean house, even if she’s still bitter about not being able to go), and she finds game pieces on the floor from the last time they played Battleship. They had both gotten a little competitive, and when Ward lost, he threw the battleship piece onto the floor and pouted about it for the rest of the night. Skye couldn’t even look at him without laughing.

 

She sets the game piece on the window sill, beside the receipt from their first date. She had originally meant to throw it out, but she’s glad that she didn’t. She likes to think of it as tangible proof of their relationship, even though they live together.

 

* * *

 

 

Eventually, Grant catches on. He’s noticed the steadily accumulating items on the window sill, and knows that they all mean something. So he decides to start adding to the collection.

 

He places the velvet box between the two succulents, propping it open with a note that says ‘marry me?’. Perhaps, he should propose in person, but he leaves for a solo mission in twelve hours. He’d reminded Coulson that him and Skye were a package deal, it was both of them or nothing, but Coulson had promised that it would be _just this once._

 

So he relented. Skye wasn’t happy about it, and was giving him a bit of a cold shoulder, until he’s halfway out the door, and she runs at him full-on, jumping into his arms and hugging him tightly and kissing him.

 

“Don’t worry about me, Skye,” he tells her calmly, tucking her hair behind her ear. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

 

“This one feels different,” she mumbles, burying her face in his shoulder. “Don’t go. Tell Coulson you’re sick, or even better, that _I’m_ sick.”

 

He pauses, wondering if he should tell her about the ring.

 

“Please, Grant,” she whimpers, tightening her arms around his neck. “What happened to the package deal?”

 

“Just this once,” he repeats the words that Coulson had told him, but the longer that Skye clings to him, the harder it is for him to resist her.

 

He fishes his phone out of his back pocket while holding her up with one arm around the small of her back, and dials Coulson’s number, explaining the situation. Skye’s close enough to hear their conversation (her ear is pretty much pressed to the opposite side of his phone), so when Coulson tells Ward to pass the phone to her, she just takes it.

 

He hears some words of reassurance from his commanding officer, but Skye is unwavering.

 

“Let him sit this one out, I have a really bad feeling about this one,” she pleads, gripping the back of Grant’s shirt with her free hand.

 

He doesn’t hear whatever Coulson says next, but obviously, it’s not what Skye had hoped, because she hangs up without saying goodbye, and shoves the phone into his pocket again. She squeezes him one last time, pressing a kiss to his jaw, and reluctantly releases him.

 

“Be extra careful this time, okay?” she says in the most heart-wrenching tone that he’s ever heard from her. Like she’s completely given up and she’s _scared_ and she’s so indescribably uneasy. “And call Coulson if it gets to be too much. I’d rather you come home in one piece without your dignity than the alternative.”

 

“I’ll be alright,” he promises, bending down to kiss her one last time. Goodbyes were never easy between them, but they were never this difficult either. “And when I get home, I’ll take some time off just for you.”

 

“I like that,” she agrees, smiling sadly and fighting back tears. “Good luck, babe.”

 

He leaves without looking back, because he knows, if he looks back at her, he won’t be able to leave.

 

* * *

 

 

It’s weeks later, and Skye hasn’t emerged from their apartment since. In fact, she hardly leaves the bedroom. She’s not sleeping, but rather just staring into space and breathing in the smell of _him_ , because it’s all she has now. She’s inadvertently starving herself, and her personal hygiene suffers as much as her heart.

 

When her friends come over, they don’t even knock, because they know she won’t answer the door. They just cautiously enter the apartment with their kind words of comfort, stay with her for a while, usually just sitting and being with her, and she appreciates it. She can’t talk much about anything these days, so just having company while she sits in silence is nice. Especially when she just starts crying out of nowhere.

 

When she finally brings herself to leave the bedroom, it’s to get a glass of water from the kitchen, because she’s been using the same cup on her bedside table for days and it’s starting to gross her out.

 

Of course, walking to the kitchen means walking past their beloved window. She’d been dreading it, but now that she’s actually standing in front of it, she finds a bit of comfort in it. The items that they had put there represent some kind of permanence of their relationship, even if he isn’t there anymore.

 

And then she notices the note.

 

With trembling hands, she lifts the box, studying the note, and then the ring.

 

She hasn’t spoken to Coulson since he told her about what had happened. She had been more than upset with him then, but now, she’s furious with him.

 

Still holding the box in one hand, she whips out her phone and dials Coulson’s number.

 

“He was going to propose to me,” she says as soon as Coulson picks up. “We were supposed to be engaged.”

 

“Skye-” says Coulson cautiously, but she cuts him off.

 

“I told you this would happen!” she reminds him, getting more and more overwhelmed. “I told you to let him stay home, and you made him go!”

 

Coulson falls silent, unable to argue with her.

 

“How could you?” she demands, tears pricking behind her eyes.

 

“I’m sorry, Skye,” he says softly.

 

“I’m quitting,” she tells him. “I can’t work for you, when you’re the one responsible for Grant’s death.”

 

She hangs up and shoves her phone back into her pocket. She admires the ring some more, and sets it back between the two plants. A symbol, for what they could’ve been.

  
What they should’ve been, she reminds herself bitterly.

**Author's Note:**

> im so sorry for the angst i had no idea this would happen good bye


End file.
